ABC names Rick Klein political director

2/27/13 9:43 AM EST

Rick Klein has been named ABC News political director, the third major political staff announcement from the network in as many days.

"In a job created by the legendary Hal Bruno, Rick will oversee the political unit and lead our digital efforts around politics while helping to steer the network's coverage of major news events on all platforms," ABC News president Ben Sherwood wrote in a memo to staff this morning. "Rick's sharp instincts and penetrating insights played a critical role throughout the 2012 election cycle, helping guide World News reporting on campaigns and political battles in Washington."

Klein joined the network in 2007 and most recently served as senior Washington editor. He takes over the position vacated late last year by Amy Walter, who left to return to the Cook Political Report.

The news comes as Sherwood seeks to strengthen ABC's political team after a wave of recent departures. Earlier this week, Sherwood announced the hire of New York Times reporters Jeff Zeleny and Susan Saulny. In today's memo, he cited Klein's promotion as evidence that the network's "powerhouse political team is bulking up and taking shape for the most important news, debate, drama and intrigue of this year and beyond."

Klein also sounded optimistic about ABC's future prospects on the political front.

"This is a terrific team that’s only getting stronger," Klein told POLITICO in an email. "I couldn’t ask for better colleagues or better friends. It’s a time of big change in journalism, and ABC is at the leading edge.”